Harry Potter and the Legend Lost
by noxescapexleft
Summary: Post OOTP, Harry returns to Privet Drive shortly after the death of his godfather, left to let the guilt sink in, a prophecy to weigh him down, and danger around every corner. Will Harry be able to master his fears and emerge triumphant? HHr ROC
1. A Night of Mourning

**Harry Potter and the Legend Lost**

**A Night of Mourning**

"My Lord…" The hooded figure paused, waiting for permission to approach the man shrouded in darkness, on the opposite side of the room. All the others would be terrified to approach the Dark Lord tonight, but he was not. He knew that he would be rewarded for his unwavering loyalty.

The man across the room slightly inclined his head acknowledging his permission. These little pathetic beings that he controlled were completely meaningless, yet they still have their uses.

"The rumors were true… we have found the remains of their last dwelling place, if all is correct then only one survived. It will be within our grasp soon my Lord."

The hooded figure swept quickly out of the room, his long cloak billowing as he rushed out the door. The man turned slowly facing back into the darkness. 'If he could acquire this new ally then his force would be complete. No one could even hope to stand in his way any longer. With the powers of his soon to be pet he could crush absolutely anything.' From the darkness two small slits appeared, glowing a particularly evil shade of bright red. A smile curled across the man's face. 'With this new pet he would be truly invincible; no one could defeat him… not even…'

It was early. Way too early for this. Exactly 3:02 A.M according to the alarm clock on the stand next to his bed. He could barley see the clock from the awkward position he found himself in upon the cold wooden floor. A pain was searing in the back of his head, it seemed he had managed to roll right off of his bed and use his head as a cushion to the cold floor. The boy lay there for a minute, letting the pain subside as he tried to recall the events of the dream that had painstakingly left him in heap on the floor.

The boy looked roughly sixteen years of age, although in reality he wouldn't be for about another week. His muscles had toned out a bit over the years and he was no longer the scrawny little kid he once was. His dark hair lay in a complete, uncontrollable mess. His face looked sunken in due to the shadows around his brilliant green eyes; the long sleepless nights had obviously been taking a toll on him. There was a lightning shaped scar etched into the side of his forehead, the one thing that set him apart from everyone else, for this was no ordinary boy, no, he was a wizard and none other than the famous boy who lived, Harry Potter.

Harry had been laying there for the better part of thirty minutes. The events that recently took place at the ministry were taking a large toll on him. After fifteen years, no more than six attempts had been made at his life, five of which were from the most powerful dark wizard of his time, Lord Voldemort. The first when he was just one year old, he was the direct recipient of the 'Avada Kedarva' curse; 'The Killing Curse'; But through his mother's sacrificial love when she and his father died for him that faithful night, Harry survived and Voldemort was reduced to nothing but a cursed soul. Harry's life was tested once again in his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when the very same cursed soul of Voldemort tried to regain life by stealing a legendary artifact called the Sorcerer's Stone, yet Harry managed to thwart him once again.

Yet another time in his second year, the remnants of Voldemort's young self tried to take his and one of his friend's lives, forcing him to face the deadly Basilisk, Yet against all odds once again, Harry had managed to triumph. In his third year he was forced to fend off over a hundred dementors, dark soul stealing creatures used to guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. Yet in these past two years things had taken a turn for the worse. In his fourth year, Harry was used as a pawn to win the tri-wizard tournament, and upon touching the tri-wizard cup he and a fellow student were transported to the grave site of Lord Voldemort's parents, they were surrounded by the followers of Lord Voldemort, more commonly known as Death Eaters, and his fellow student Cedric Diggory was killed. The Death Eaters used the blood that flowed in Harry's veins to resurrect their fallen leader, Lord Voldemort. Harry only managed to escape that dire situation through luck and instinct.

Harry lay there on the floor silently brooding these past events in his head. The most recent weighed him down the most though. Throughout his fifth year, Harry slowly discovered that there was a connection between Voldemort's mind and his, he was able to feel what Voldemort felt and sometimes even see what he saw. Voldemort also began to realize this connection and began to use it to manipulate Harry to his advantage. He sent Harry false images of his godfather; last know wizarding kin to Harry, being tortured. Naturally Harry went to his rescue along with several other students from Hogwarts wanting to help him. He, of course, walked right into Voldemort's trap and eventually, though they fought bravely, he and his friends were defeated. When all looked lost, the members of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret group against the dark Lord, arrived to save Harry and his friends.

In the commotion of it all, his godfather, a member of the Order of the Phoenix was pushed into the veil of the unknown and lost to this world. As the Death Eaters began to flee, and in rage of his godfather's death, Harry followed the Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange using one of the unforgivable curses on her. As Harry was about to attack again, Voldemort appeared, and fortunately so did Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of his time and also the headmaster of Hogwarts. A battle ensued, and when Voldemort felt he could not win just yet, he possessed Harry trying to get him to attack Dumbledore. It took every ounce of strength and will power Harry had to fight him off. Later that evening Dumbledore revealed a prophecy made about him and Lord Voldemort, _'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…'_ The words still flowed freshly through Harry's memory, _'For neither can live while the other survives…'_ He was destined to fight, whether he wanted to or not, _'And he will have a power the Dark Lord knows not…'_ Why must it be him that is condemned to fight for his life time and time again? Why did that stupid prophecy have to be made? If it had never happened then he never would be here, Voldemort would not have killed his parents and he would have led a happy normal life with his real parents. He was sick of being known as The Boy Who Lived, all he ever wanted was to be normal.

And so it came to be that Harry lay there silently. Thoughts of his recent nightmare were flooding through his mind, He had saw a young girl no more than his age walking down the dark street back to her house, she was quickly glancing over her shoulder and she could see the two hooded figures that had begun following her, she knew who they were and what they wanted, they couldn't hide anything from her. She broke out into a run and dashed into the nearest alleyway, the two figures on her tail. Harry's perspective suddenly changed to that of one of the hooded figures, he had just rounded the corner and the girl was gone, disappeared from plain sight, they spent nearly and hour searching for her before giving up. There was going to be some hell to pay tonight.

Yet Harry's thoughts of this dream were beginning to fade away as he began to mull over his godfather's death once again.

Harry pulled himself up from the hard floor in his little room, the room his aunt and uncle were only so unwilling to give Harry. They hated him, they hated his kind. It was only when he had absolutely no where to go on that faithful night 14 years ago that they reluctantly took him in. These muggles didn't care for him, they only put up with him because they were forced to by Dumbledore. Sirius was the only wizarding kin that Harry had left, and now he was gone, and all because of Harry, if only he had listened to reason and saw through the false visions. Not being able to take it any longer he broke down and cried, this was the first time he had cried since the night Sirius died. He cried, letting all of his emotion out, it was all he could do.

Harry woke again around 4:00 A.M. that morning to a sharp tapping against his window. He sat up bolt right and quickly hastened to let the owl in. He let the brown own in his room and detached the letter from its leg. The owl hopped back onto the window sill and with a flap of its wings, was gone back into the clear sky. Harry looked over the letter closely; it was the first piece of mail that he had received since he returned to Privet Drive.

_Harry Potter_

_The Smallest Bedroom_

_#4 Privet Drive_

Harry opened the letter with anticipation; he thought he could recognize the handwriting.

_Dear Harry,_

_I know you must be having a rough summer, just a little bit longer though and you'll soon have the Dursley's out your hair. I have good and bad news, I'll start with the bad; O.W.L. results are going to be here soon and I'm worried sick! I know if I had just gotten five more minutes on that silly little transfiguration one I could have made it so much better, and Defense Against the Dark Arts… well let's face it, I'm not you Harry. What did you put for that question about the differences between a transfigured werewolf and an actual werewolf? I feel like I'm about to bite my head off with anticipation, it's killing me here! I know you must be just as worried as I am, how couldn't you be? Well as for the good news… I've decided to keep that a surprise for the time being, just know that I'm thinking about you Harry. I'm sure Ron is too, have you heard from him lately? He wrote me not too long ago and he seemed to be very excited about something._

_Love Hermione_

_P.S. – Make sure you have everything packed. You never know when you might just get to leave…_

Harry sat back on his bed. It was typical of Hermione to be stressing over exams, especially ones that they had already taken. Hermione would have never admitted it but she was much smarter than Harry, well… maybe not at Defense Against the Dark Arts, but at just about everything else, she was the smartest witch he knew. Yet aside from Hermione's misplaced worries, something else was nagging at him, she led on that she knew something about him leaving… and that he should pack his bags. Does that mean that he would get to be leaving soon? He highly doubted it, his birthday hadn't even come to pass yet, and what was this 'good news' that she was so hyped up about. What was she planning? His thoughts began to drift over her last two sentences, Ron had not written him at all this summer, which was unlike him. He had a strong feeling that something was going on that he didn't know about.

Just as the thought crossed his mind though, a small pile of clothes that was sitting on top of his dresser against the wall jumped from some unseen force and landed in a heap on the floor. 'What the bloody hell was that?' Harry stood quickly his wand in his hand. He stood there stock still for nearly five minutes, finally deciding that the clothes must have been on the edge of the dresser and just been waiting to fall, he got up, folded the clothes back up and put them on top of the dresser. 'I could have sworn that I put those clothes up against the wall though'

He went back to his desk, pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and began to write.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I'm not quite sure how all of this is about to come out so just bear with me. Thanks… I've never properly thanked you for everything you've done for me, especially a couple weeks ago. Even though you didn't believe that Sirius was actually captured and you felt that I was being misled, you stuck by me. You put your all into something I believed in, even if it turned out for the worst. I know that no matter what happens, you will always be there for me and I just want to thank you for being such a good friend, it means a lot to me. God knows I've screwed up so many times, and the only reason I'm alive today is by pure luck and the same goes to everyone who followed me to the ministry. I owe them all an apology and I'll start with you, I'm sorry._

_I have something import to tell you Hermione, you and Ron both, but I'd rather it be face to face. Just know from that moment on, things are probably going to be different._

_On a lighter note, Hermione… are you serious? If you didn't get at least and O on every single one of your O.W.L.s then something is seriously wrong with this world. Now quit worrying! Everything will turn out fine. Ron hasn't written me at all this summer, yours was the first letter I've received. Any ideas what he's up to?_

_Harry Potter_

Harry carefully folded up the letter and set it aside, pulling out another piece of parchment he began again.

_Dear Ron,_

_Hey mate, how it going? Haven't hear from you all summer, what's going on? O.W.L results come soon, Hermione seems like she's in a fit about them._

_Hey I have something important to tell you, I'm going to wait until I can tell you face to face, but just know that after that moment, things are going to change._

_Give everyone my best._

_Harry_

Short and to the point and just under the maximum length of Ron's attention span. Harry folded up the letter and pulled out one final piece of parchment.

_Professor Dumbledore,_

_I had a dream tonight, well a different one at least. It seems Voldemort is after something, or rather someone. My dream showed two Death Eaters chasing this girls into a dark alleyway, and right as they were about to catch her she seemingly disappeared. I'm not sure why Voldemort is after her or what he is planning to do, but that is not my main concern. Just the fact that I had this dream still proves that there is a connection between Voldemort and myself, Professor, I need to finish learning my Occulemency lessons as soon as possible._

_Harry_

Harry had strained to find something to write for that final letter, he was angry with Dumbledore. Ever since Harry had found out that he was a wizard, Dumbledore had been hiding information from him that directly affected his life. This prophecy being the most recent, how could Dumbledore hide something so important from him? Dumbledore had said it was because he had grown fond of Harry and didn't want to hurt him any more, but hiding all this information from him seemed to be posing even more of a threat to Harry. For he was Harry Potter, the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived and now that he knew the prophecy the impending fight between him and Lord Voldemort seemed inevitable. 'Neither can live while the other survives.' Voldemort had been alive for nearly a year now, this silent peace wouldn't last forever. Just thinking of the prophecy made Harry sick, it wasn't fair. Harry glanced over at his alarm clock, it read 5:15 A.M. Harry folded up the last letter and walked over to Hedwig's cage. He attached the three letters to her leg.

"You're in for a long journey girl. Be careful. These letters go to Ron, Professor Dumbledore and Hermione."

Hedwig nipped him on the ear affectionately. Harry sighed as he watched her fly off into the distance, what he wouldn't give to be carefree like her. Deciding to get an early start on his chores, Harry headed downstairs for a little breakfast.


	2. What Lurks Around the Corner

**Harry Potter and the Legend Lost**

**What Lurks Around the Corner**

Harry walked along the path through the park in Little Whinging, it was a nice day outside, about 80 degrees Fahrenheit with a cool breeze blowing. The park was full of families and their little kids playing in the playground. Harry sat on a wooden bench on the edge of a playground just watching the little kids, they were having so much fun, so carefree. Why couldn't he have that? Harry noticed some of the parents shooting him dark looks, after all he was just a teenager, and all teenagers are always up to mischief right? They also knew him as that Potter boy, the one that lived with the Dursleys and attend a behavioral reform school. Harry reluctantly got up and continued down the path, which eventually winded down to a pond side. There were a couple people out in the middle of the small pond in boats fishing. Harry sat at the edge of the lake and watched the water spiders dance across the water's surface leaving circular ripples in their wake. Harry laid back and watched the clouds go by trying to find shapes out of the puffy white figures, he let all of his worries go, forgetting everything about his life and the wizarding world this was the first time he had truly been carefree. He must have laid there for an hour at least before he was finally disturbed.

"Hello"

Harry opened his eyes to see a small boy, no more than five years old standing over him. He was wearing a bright red shirt with the name of some muggle soccer team etched on the front. Harry sat up, the muscles in his body aching to lay back down and relax. Harry turned to face the boy.

"Hi there" He stared at the boy for a couple seconds, the boy stared right back not even blinking. "Can I help you?"

"Maybe…" the boy replied, he seemed to have a small quiver in his voice.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm lost. Can you help me find my mommy?" Harry looked into the kid's eyes… there was something different about him.

"Sure" Harry got up and took hold of the kid's hand. "What's your name?"

"Brian"

"Well Brian, I'm Harry, nice to meet you."

"Ditto" Harry led the little boy back up towards the play grounds, but they were deserted when they got there… Maybe it was just him, but something didn't feel right.

"Do you recognize where we are?" The little boy nodded. "Can you lead me to your house, I'll walk you there to make sure you get there safely." The little boy nodded again.

Something was most definitely not right, the park was full of life no more than an hour ago, and now it was devoid of life. As if on cue a stick crunched from behind Harry and the boy. Harry wheeled around to face the unknown person. There stood Dudley and his gang, the little boy hid behind Harry's legs.

"Ohh look it's icky little Potter. Looks like he's taking a liking to little kids, isn't that sweet?" Dudley's gang roared with laughter, of course they would laugh at anything Dudley said, whether it was funny or

not.

"Leave me alone Dudley, you don't want to mess with me right now."

"Ohh yeah? And just what are you going to do if I don't? I pretty sure there's no way you can i magic /i your way out of this one Potter." His gang roared with laughter again, oblivious to the double entranda Dudley just made.

Harry gave his cousin an evil stare, then turned around and began to walk away leading Brian away from Dudley and his mindless drones. Dudley on the other had wasn't about to stand for this, Harry had just challenged him and he wasn't about to let him walked away. He stooped over and picked up a sizable rock, taking careful and using extreme force, he launched the rock straight at the back of Harry's head. The rock was moving with such speed that Dudley was sure it would at least knock Harry out and then he could beat the crap out of him and that little kid too. So he watched the rock fly, his anticipation building as it neared Harry. But suddenly, within inches of Harry's head the rock changed course and started hurling back at Dudley as if some invisible hand had come down and smacked it right back at Dudley. The aim was true and it knocked Dudley right between the eyes, Dudley fell to his knees clutching his forehead, a large purple bruise already forming where the rock had hit him. Dudley's gang was dumbstruck, What had just happened? They eyed Harry with fear in their eyes, as he continued to walk away with the little kid. They picked up Dudley and got out of there as fast as they could, they didn't want to be anywhere near that freak. The little boy turned as they were running away and stuck out his tongue mockingly and continued to walk with Harry towards his house both completely oblivious to what had just happened.

They arrived at the little boys house nearly 15 minutes later, although something still felt amiss to Harry, something wasn't right. Harry knocked on the front door, after a few seconds he heard footsteps rushing to the door. The door was shoved open and a distraught woman immediately stooped to pick up her son.

"Ohh Brian, I was so worried! You know you're not supposed to leave the playground!" she planted a couple of sloppy kisses on his cheek. Brian on the other hand looked rather annoyed as he struggled a

bit against his mother's tight grip. "Ohh I'm so glad your back. And who is this most gracious gentleman who brought…?" She had finally looked over at Harry and once she saw him she stopped in mid sentence. Her eyes quickly flashed to his forehead and back. "You're..H-Harry Potter" she exclaimed!

"You're a witch?" Harry asked dumbfounded. His entire life here he had only met one other magical person in Little Whinging and she was sent by Dumbledore to watch over Harry. Harry suddenly realized

why the boy seemed different to him, he could sense the magic running through him.

"I heard that you lived close to here but I never though I would ever meet you." She exclaimed hurriedly, her eyes darting from side to side and she shifted trying to block Harry's view into her home.

But Harry was taller than her, he looked past her and he could see plastered on the walls the Daily Prophet articles, claiming him to be a madman and daft. He saw the article that Rita Skeeter wrote about him. Before she could even say anything else to him Harry's eye's sunk, "You're welcome, Brian you really shouldn't wander off." Brian nodded vigoursly, with that Harry turned and stalked off from the house and back towards the park.

The woman closed the door hurriedly and set her son down.

"Why did you go talk to him of all people Brian! You know he's a madman! I've told you so a hundred times!"

"Because mommy, I saw him sleeping at the lake and a voice came in my head and said 'I'll protect you.' So I knew I was safe with him." His mother looked at him dumbfounded, unsure of how to respond.

Harry walked back through the park to his house, it was beginning to get dark and the sun cast an orange glow over everything. Harry was still in a mood about what he had just encountered, he knew people would still be against him, but he had always been hopeful that things would change since his ordeal at the ministry. He should just accept the facts though, no matter what he did, they would always find a way to turn it against him… they wanted him to fail, and fail miserably. Harry looked up, the park was still oddly deserted. Something was still not right. Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand up, he felt like he was being watched. Harry continued down the path, and as he approached the end of the park a dark figure blocked his path still a good fifty feet in front of him. "Who's there?" Suddenly everything went dark, but in an instant it was back to normal, and the figure was gone. He could have sworn he saw a pair of red eyes watching him in the dark for that instant in time. Realizing that he was still rooted to the spot, Harry looked around and quickly continued back to the Dursley's is a "power walk" fashion.

Harry closed the front door behind him and hurried upstairs, breathing heavily. 'It couldn't be him, not here, not now, not in Little Whinging. On the other hand... if it was, then he was in grave danger along with the Dursley's.' He heard footsteps at his door, he could see the unmistakable shadow of his cousin underneath the doorway.

"Potter" He whispered, "I know you did magic today, and that you're still underage, you're going to get expelled from your little freak school" He laughed with glee. Once again, as though the timing couldn't

be more precise an owl flew through his open bedroom window, dropped a letter on his bed and flew back out. Harry picked up the letter, it had an official ministry seal on it. 'What was Dudley talking about, he didn't use any magic today, he walked away from that fight' Harry slowly opened the letter.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_Though the ministry has pardoned Albus Dumbledore and yourself and accepted the return of He Who Must Not Be Named, It is unfortunate that we must inform you that due to your actions at the ministry of magic you will be tried upon five criminal accusations:_

_Breaking and Entering into the Ministry of Magic_

_Destruction of particular valuables of the Department of Mysteries_

_Endangering the lives of other underage wizards and witches_

_Use of the Cruciatus curse on another wizard_

_Disturbance of other classified artifacts in the Department of Mysteries_

_Your court date is due to take place on August 8__th__, in court room number 7. If accused, you will face immediate expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, along with any other punishment that the Wizegamont deems appropriate. Please be prompt. Have a good summer_

_Signed,_

_Mary Higgins_

_Department of Justice_

Harry couldn't believe his eyes. After all they put him through, only for him to turn out to be telling the truth the whole time and the Ministry to be wrong, they were going to try and expel him from Hogwarts and maybe more! Harry began to feel his rage start to boil up inside of him. The same pile of clothes that he had picked up this morning and the lamp next to them started to shake a little and if there was a minor earth quake going on. Yet Harry was to furious to even notice this, they couldn't expel him, he didn't deserve this. He never even wanted all this for himself in the first place! It wasn't his fault Voldemort chose him that night, but ever since people have been treating him like crap, like he was some deadly disease that they didn't want to catch. Hadn't he been through enough already?

Without warning a large barn owl swooped in and dropped yet another letter in his lap and flew back out of his room. Harry was already agitated enough, he slammed his window shut, no more sudden owls. Looking at the letter in his hands, it was from Dumbledore.

_Harry,_

_I received your letter and I must say that I am very intrigued by this revelation but I must impress once again, as you already know, that it is important that you close the link between your's and Tom's minds. Although after the events at the Ministry of Magic I don't think he will try to enter your mind anytime soon now that he knows that you can fend him off. You will continue your Occulemency training shortly, just remain patient, arrangements have been made._

What did that mean… 'Arrangements have been made…' Why must Dumbledore always skirt around the truth.

_As I am sure that you have received an owl from the Ministry and already know about your summons. Never fear Harry, I will personally see to it that you are not expelled from Hogwarts and that all goes well at your hearing. Just remember as our good friend Professor Moody always says 'Constant Vigilance'_

_Now on a rather serious note, it is very important that you do not leave your house for any reason what so ever until you have been instructed to do so. Things in Little Whinging are no longer safe, be careful Harry._

_P.S. – Be sure to give Professor Moody my best as I expect you will see him before I do. _

This would be the second time Harry had been to court in a two year span, the last incident, he was almost expelled from Hogwarts for using a partonus charm to save his cousin and himself from a couple dementors, and now they want to try him again for doing what he needed to do in order to save his life… well most of the accusations fell under that category. The only one that didn't was the use of the Cruciatus curse, he didn't know how he was going to skirt around that one, or how they even knew for that matter. And what did Dumbledore mean saying Little Whinging was no longer safe, was that actually Voldemort he saw back in the park?... No, it couldn't have been, he wouldn't have just disappeared like that. He would have attacked Harry, most assuredly.

Harry was left to ponder his thoughts for another hour or so until his train of thoughts was interrupted. There was a sharp knock at his door and his uncle opened the door.

"We're leaving boy…" Uncle Vernon's eyes shot about in all directions, he looked utterly petrified. "Uhh… we got a letter from that teacher of yours, Professor D-Dundledork or something like that. He advised us that we leave as soon as possible and take a nice long vacation for the rest of the summer, he even gave us 3 plane tickets to Singapore, and given the serious tone of the note, I think we're going to take him up on that offer. He said we were to leave you here and leave as soon as possible. So uhh… bye"

"Goodbye…" said Harry. He had been short with his uncle all summer, the man had been giving him enormous amounts of chores to do and Harry was bitter about it all.

Uncle Vernon closed the door and Harry listened as he walked down the stairs, started the car, and drove off. The Durselys were gone, and he was alone at number 4 Privet Drive. Harry carried his trunks downstairs, he had a strong feeling that he wasn't going to be there for much longer. After the grueling task of lugging his luggage, Harry plopped down on the living room couch and turned the TV on, maybe he'd catch up on some news while he waited. There wasn't much of interest on, the biggest story was about a town a couple miles out from where he was, a large bridge spontaneously collapsed killing fourteen muggles and injuring thirty. Other than that, the news was reverting to stories about a woman with a bunch of cats who liked to donate to a local charity. The lady oddly reminded him of Mrs. Fig. Suddenly there was a loud crack in the kitchen, he heard a pot clank as it hit the floor, and the familiar clunk of a wooden leg. Moody hobbled into the living room his magical eye spinning in wild circles.

"Potter…"

"Professor Moody"

"What is the name of the house elf that lives at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry stared at him blanking for a second before replying.

"Kreacher"

"Good, good, I just had to be sure and all you know… Constant Vigilance"

"Where we headed?"

"That's not important right now Harry, let's get your stuff and be quick about it, we don't have much time" Harry walked out into the hallway, Moody following. "Grab your Firebolt boy, we'll be doing a bit of flying tonight"

"Dumbledore gives his best by the way"

"Good man Dumbledore. Always thinks of everything" He added, chuckling to himself.

Harry picked up his Firebolt, Moody grabbed his broom where he had left it in the kitchen, then pointed his wand at Harry's trunk "Locomotor Trunks" Harry's trunks levitated and split half of them on the back of Moody's broom and the other half on Harry's. The both walked outside to Harry's front yard.

"Follow me closely and don't fall behind"

With that they both took off into the night, the cool night air rushing against their faces as they flew through the silent night.

After about two hours of relentless flying and breakneck speed the finally began to descend. Harry could see a large muggle city off in the distance and it looked as if there were about to land in suburbia. A couple of cars passed on the street below them, and then when all was clear they landed softly in a small field next to a muggle neighborhood. Harry's face had windburn from the cool air and he was dead tired.

"Where are we Professor?"

"You'll see soon enough. Locomotor Trunks, In your pocket there's a piece of parchment, take it out, read it to yourself then hand it to me."

Harry reached into his pocket and sure enough, there was a piece of parchment there. He took is out and unfolded it, looking over its contents.

_1416 Little Tree ln._

Harry looked up a little confused as Moody snatched the parchment from his hand. He muttered something under his breath and the parchment caught fire and burned to ashes. As Harry looked around, a house began to materialize in front of him. It was a pretty modest house, it was much larger than the Dursley's small house and quite a bit larger than the neighborhood houses at the other end of the field. A mailbox appeared right beside him, the name Granger etched on the side in big bold letters. Just beyond that a couple of automobiles materialized in the drive way.

"Get a move on Potter"


	3. A Nightly Surprise

**Harry Potter and the Legend Lost**

**A Nightly Surprise**

It was a quiet evening in the urban neighborhood, well quiet for the city. There were only a few cars passing by every couple minutes, and all the children who normally thrived in the streets playing the muggle games of basketball or baseball had gone inside. It was unnaturally dark this night, the only light coming from a street light set at the end of the residence street lined with town homes. About four houses down from the end of the street, a small rustle came from the bushes that grew directly across from the houses. Other than that, the entire street was still, not even a small gust of wind giving into the unnatural tranquility. It was indeed, a quiet night.

Avery gave Mulciber hasty glance from the bush that he currently resided in, they had been here for hours and the target was yet to appear, yet he still had a grim look of determination on his face. Mulciber knew more about this than he was letting on, Avery could tell from the dark look in his eyes. Something wasn't right about their target, there was something very special about it, probably why the Dark Lord wanted it so desperately, but something about Mulciber's look told Avery that this was going to be difficult, heck, he didn't even know what they were waiting for.

Mulciber on the other hand wasn't quite as optimistic as Avery so foolishly allowed himself to be. He alone knew exactly what it was they were waiting for. The Dark Lord had confided in him and him alone, he knew every single aspect of their target. The Dark Lord told him of her powers, only heard of in myth and legend, and if true, this would not be some easy snatch and grab mission. He could understand why the Dark Lord so desperately wanted this abomination as an ally, but why must he, Mulciber, one of the Dark Lord's most faithful servants, be sent on this almost certain suicide mission. Mulciber was lost deep in his foreboding thoughts, contemplating the worst, eyes fixed on the very spot he knew she would pass. She would be here soon.

Far off in the distance, Harry began to twitch and turn in his sleep…

From his bush, Mulciber's ears perked up a little, the faint sound of footsteps was slowly floating their way and growing with each passing second. Avery heard it too as he seemed to shift restlessly from his bush. Now was the time, their target had arrived… only a few more seconds and she would be within range. Mulciber had gone over the plan countless times, they would wait until the target was at the stoop of the house, then they would quickly bag it and get out of there… seemed simple enough. The woman walked slowly into the light given off by the lamp at the end of the street. She had short blonde hair that came down to her shoulders and was approximately five and a half foot tall. She was a beautiful girl, no more than sixteen years old, her face looked a little strained with stress but her body showed none of that. She wore a red apron that read Edy's Diner across the top right corner, and a simple waitress' uniform underneath. She carried a small purse with her as she walked briskly towards her house. Mulciber watched her with greedy eyes, how could a beautiful girl such as her be so dangerous? She was right in front of her house now, about to take the first step up the small flight of stairs when she stopped cold. Mulciber saw something like a pulse emanate from the girl, and almost instantly felt a wave of energy wash over him, he couldn't move, his body was rooted to the spot. His eyes shot around wildly in his head trying to find his unseen captor. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Avery in the same predicament as himself, the look in his eyes betraying how scared he was. Suddenly his body straightened up, forcing him to stand as he was being dragged away from his hiding place and towards the girl, his feet dragging across the ground. The girl slowly turned around and stared straight into the eyes of her would be captors.

"You can not hide anything from me. Tell your Lord that I have no interest in joining his petty little war, the affairs of wizards mean nothing to me. Should he attempt this again, I won't be as lenient." Her voice echoed off the dull brick houses.

The girl walked into her house shutting the door behind her. The hold over Mulciber and Avery was diminished after a few seconds. He turned and nodded to Avery. They both turned and disapparated on the spot, yet beside their defeat, Mulciber left with a small smirk on his face, for he had detected something useful in her voice, something that would inevitably be her downfall… fear.

Harry awoke with a start, sweat dripped slowly down his flushed face and he was breathing rather heavily. Slowly regaining his senses, Harry recalled the events of his most recent dream. Who was this mysterious girl, and what did she do to Avery and Mulciber, he never even saw her so much as point a wand at them. And what did she mean by 'The petty affairs of wizards mean nothing to me." One thing was for certain though, she was in trouble. There was no way that Voldemort would let her challenge him unanswered, but what could Harry do? He didn't even know who or where she was. He would do the only thing he could, write Dumbledore, with some faint hope that he might just know what to do. Harry looked about himself, there was an arm chair knocked over on the other side of his new room. His new room… It took a minute for this to finally sink in, he was staying with Hermione. He got up and walked towards the desk in the room, now pondering the events of that night. He had arrived late with Professor Moody…

"Get a move on Potter"

Harry and Professor Moody slowly approached the front door of the Granger's house, Moody took his walking stick and was about to knock when the door was flung open and Harry was tackled by a bushy head of hair.

"Err-my-knee geer-off, I can't breethe"

"Ohh sorry Harry, I just get a little excited." Hermione smiled as she got and brushed herself off. She extended a hand to Harry to help him get off and brushed him off as well. Hermione's parents stood in

the doorway smiling at their daughter and Harry.

"Everything went alright I presume then, Alastor?" asked Mr. Granger

"Right as a whistle" Moody replied, his eye was still shooting about this head seemingly convinced that they were being followed. After some quick greetings the Grangers had hurried everyone inside to their

living room.

"Well Harry, I must be going, Order business and all, I'm sure the Grangers here will explain everything to you. Just remember, be careful, you are safe nowhere. CONSTANT VIGLIANCE!" With that, Moody hobbled back out the front door and into the street, disappearating with a loud crack.

"Ohh I'm sure you're exhausted Harry, please come sit down, I'll go put a kettle of tea on." Said Mrs. Granger as she hurried off into the kitchen.

Harry sat down beside Hermione who was beaming at him as if he had just won the Quidditch World Cup single handedly.

"So I bet you're wondering why you're here?" Hermione said casually.

Harry nodded, watching Hermione intently. She seemed to have a glow in her eyes, Harry could tell that she was really happy to see him, it must get a bit lonely here all summer when you're an only child and your parents work all the time. Harry could tell from the way that her hair was done up and she still had makeup on at this time of night, that she knew that he was going to be coming to her house, she probably knew way in advance. Then it all seemed to click in his head, her letter… i _P.S. – Make sure you have everything packed. You never know when you might just get to leave… /i _she knew then. Harry smiled inwardly. Hermione was always just a little more than she let on.

"Well it's not much of a story actually. From what I could tell, in the aftermath of the ordeal with the ministry, Professor Dumbledore knew you were no longer safe, he knew that with V-Voldemort out in the open, it would only be a matter of time until he decided to attack again. So about three weeks ago, Professor Dumbledore approached my parents and asked them if they would be willing to house you for the remainder of the summer, my parents agreed, and Dumbledore assured them that protective enchantments would be placed on the house and no one but whoever he told would even be able to see our house, so Dumbledore is our secret keeper. I asked him why he wouldn't simply use Grimwald Place since it was already so well hidden, he told me that the Order needed full use of headquarters and it would be best if you stayed here. I mean, it's logical isn't it, since Ron's dad is in the ministry and you're friends with him, they could easily trace you back to his house, but no one around here is a wizard, so they have no leads whatsoever." Hermione smile was so big it looked like it might overtake her entire face if she wasn't careful.

Harry sat back, he could care less if he ever set foot inside number 12 Grimwald Place ever again, just the thought of it brought memories of Sirius back to him, memories to painful to handle. Yet he still didn't understand why the Order needed full use of the house, Harry suspected that Dumbledore had just said that as an excuse to get Harry here, there were more reasons for his being here, although Hermione's logic did make a lot of sense.

"Hi Hermione, how has your summer been?" Harry smiled

"Ohh good, I guess, and yours?"

"Do you really need to ask?" Harry mused sarcastically.

"Harry James Potter! You do not need to take that sarcastic tone with me!"

"But why not?" Harry smiled playfully

"Humph"

"Alright fine, come 'ere" Harry pulled her into a friendly hug, he had missed her, and he was just glad the Dursley's torture was over. 'Hmm… her hair smells good.'

"You said you had something important to tell me Harry?" Hermione inquired as she pulled away from him

"Tea is ready dears!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed as she came from the kitchen with a tray in hand. Mrs. Granger stayed until after Harry and Hermione had both taken their tea and both taken sips to make sure it was ok by them. The she left to find her husband and let the two teenagers talk, something she knew her Hermione did best.

"I'll tell you about that later, I'm not ready right now" Harry replied after Mrs. Granger left. Hermione gave him an inquisitive look but shrugged it off.

Harry and Hermione spent the remainder of that evening playing muggle board games and just talking. Hermione was more surprised in the fact that she had to teach Harry most of the games they

played, she would have thought that being muggle raised he would have known all these. But of course being raised by the Dursleys and being shut up in a closet all year did have its downsides. Harry laughed and had more fun that night than he did all summer combined, he was reluctant to retire to bed later that evening, but he needed the sleep, he could barley keep his eyes open as it was.

Hermione led Harry, dragging his trunks, to the stairs. There were two flights of stairs near the front door of their hours, one up to the left and the other up to the right. Harry and Hermione took the right hand flight of stairs.

"Wow you have a huge house Hermione."

"Yes well, muggle dentists get paid a lot in this area. This is our side, my parents stay up on the left hand side of the house. Down this hall on the right is my bedroom, and a little further on down, on the right is yours, at the end of the hall is the bathroom." They took Harry's luggage into his room and set it down. "Come here I want to show you the tower." Hermione said, taking his hand and leading him out of the room. They went to a room just at the start of the hall that they had passed earlier. There was no door but in the middle of the room was a spiral metal staircase. Harry and Hermione climbed the staircase to a small circular room that had a sofa bench that circled the room up against the walls. Windows lined the walls all the way around the room and Harry could see why Hermione called it

the tower. It looked just like the top of a lighthouse, and you could see for miles around Hermione's house. Just beyond the bordering neighborhood was an outcrop of mountains, Harry turned around and saw a lake on opposite side. They sat there for a couple minutes, Hermione relaying the names of some of the mountains in the distance and the name of the lake as well. After a few more minutes, they headed back down and off to their respective rooms, Hermione kissed Harry on the cheek and wished him a good night and off to bed they went. The next thing he knew he had woken up sweating from the dream he just had.

Reverting back to the task at hand, Harry sat at the drawing desk and took out a piece of parchment and a quill.

_Professor Dumbledore,_

_I must say, I was almost sure that I'd be back at Grimwald place, and I am a little surprised as to why you choose Hermione's house. Yet apart from that, I have had another dream, Voldemort sent two death eaters to try and capture the girl, but they couldn't do it. I'm not quite sure how but the girl took a hold of them without magic and forced them to come out of their hiding place, they couldn't even move. She told them "You can not hide anything from me. Tell your Lord that I have no interest in joining his petty little war, the affairs of wizards mean nothing to me. Should he attempt this again, I won't be as lenient." I'm not quite sure what all this means, but I know this girl is in trouble, and something about her is important otherwise Voldemort wouldn't be so desperate to get her. I am not sure what to do, but I was hoping that you may know a little bit more than I do._

_Harry._

Harry folded up the letter and crossed across the room to Hedwig's cage, she had been waiting for him here at Hermione's house when he arrived. He attached the letter to her leg and let her hop onto his arm. Being that there were no windows in his room, he would have to take her up to the tower. He climbed the metal steps quietly trying to make as little noise as possible. He reached the small room and opened one of the windows. Hedwig hopped of his arm and soared out the window into the open sky, doing what she loved most… flying. Harry watched her in the pale moonlight for as long as his eyes could follow her, then he sat back, leaning on a part of wall in between two of the windows. It was a beautiful night.

Harry heard footsteps coming down the hall. They stopped at his room for a second and then came down to the base of the tower, he heard someone climbing the stairs very quietly and he eventually saw Hermione's head pop up into the room. She was wearing a light pink silk night gown and she had a pair of some ridiculously funny looking slippers shaped like a tooth. She turned pink upon seeing him look at her slippers.

"My parents are dentists, what can I say? Harry I heard something fall in your room and when I looked in the chair was knocked over and you were gone… is everything alright?"

"Hermione, sit down." Harry paused hesitantly. "Do you remember how I said I had something very important to tell you?" She nodded with anticipation.

"Well here goes, that day that we all went into the ministry to save Sirius and walked into a trap, well it wasn't just a trap for me. Voldemort wanted something from the Department of Mysteries, something he couldn't get without me giving it to him. The prophecy, he nor none of his Death Eaters could take the prophecy from its home in the Department of Mysteries, only the one of whom the prophecy had been made about could take the prophecy from its shelf. That's why he needed me, he couldn't take it, only I could. Yet there was something very particular about that prophecy pertaining to Voldemort and myself."

"But Harry, the prophecy was destroyed in the battle wasn't it"

"Yes, that particular copy of it was. It wasn't until I finally returned to Hogwarts that Professor Dumbledore finally decided to divulge the truth about the prophecy. It was made long ago, a little over sixteen years ago, just before I was born, and it just so happened that Dumbledore was present at the very time it was made, he was interview for the teachers position of Dinivation."

"Professor T-Tr… but I thought she was just some crazy old hoot, none of that Dinivation stuff is real anyways."

"Professor Trelawny does have the power of the seer, inherited through her family ties, but she doesn't even know that she has it. She can't remember anything she actually predicts. But that's not the point, she made a prediction during her interview with Professor Dumbledore, a prediction that changed my life before I was even born. i '_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...' /i _ Voldemort heard about the prophecy and that was when he decided to kill me and my parents." Harry paused, he was finding it difficult to find words to finish his thoughts. "A-As you know, I survived that. But now he's, and I can't be rid of him Hermione. I am destined to fight him, to the death. Only one of us can be alive, and the prophecy's time to pass will come soon." Harry finished staring at his hands, the very hands

destined to kill or be killed by Lord Voldemort. They didn't even feel like his own.

Hermione pulled Harry into a hug and held him close, she wasn't about to let go, he needed her. This foreboding responsibility and the stress from recent events were way too much for him… for anyone. They stayed like that for the better part of an hour, it wasn't until the sun rose and was on its long tread across the sky that they decided to go down and get breakfast. Harry felt much better though, he had been waiting all summer to get that out, and now that he did, a load was lifted, temporarily, but lifted. He was ready to tackle another day.


	4. Foreboding Entanglements

**Harry Potter and the Legend Lost**

**Foreboding Entanglements**

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**

Harry sat up groggily rubbing his eyes, he grabbed his glasses and slowly dragged himself out of bed. Harry was slowly pulling some muggle jeans an a t-shirt on when Hermione came bursting through the door screaming at the top of her lungs.

"THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE!" It took her a couple of seconds to realize what she had just walked in on. Harry's jeans were only half way up and he was shirtless, staring at her with a look on his

face that reminded her of what he looked like after one of his potions blew up in his face during a potions class. Her eyes drifted from his face and slowly over the rest of him, quidditch had done Harry some good, her face turned a bright shade of pink and she muttered her apology as she quickly bolted from the room shutting the door behind her.

Harry finished dressing, wanting to see what Hermione was all excited about. He had been here for a couple of days now, and the Grangers had been more than hospitable to him, it was treatment he wasn't used to, they treated them as if he were their own son, something he never had experienced before. Harry tried his best to help out as much as he could as well, washing dishes with Hermione after meals and such. He couldn't be more grateful to have left the Dursley's for the summer. Hermione and Harry had spent most of their time together, they had talked about a lot, most of it meaningless though. Harry had decided to keep the news about his summons to court a secret for the time being, although he knew he could not keep it from her forever. Harry had received a letter from Ron during his sort stay here, but it was short and didn't really explain anything, most of all his lack of letters this summer.

_Dear Harry,_

_I know I haven't written this summer, but not without good reason. You'll find out soon enough though, I can't tell you just yet as it wouldn't be much of a surprise now would it? Dad has found out about your summons, they've requested a private court room for your summons and they seem to be keeping it hushed up. Probably because they know that putting you on trial would turn half of the wizards in London against them. I think they're just mad because you weren't lying and now they have to eat their words. Mum says that you're going to be here for your birthday and from there it seems as if we will be returning to Grimwald Place for the rest of the summer. I'll just be glad to get away from this place, mum has been a royal pain in the arse since Fred and George opened their joke shop. She's been so strict on me and Ginny, I don't think she'll ever let go and move on. Well good luck when we see you, I'm sure she'll be the same to you._

_Ron_

_P.S. – Tell Hermione that I said hey and that the package has arrived._

It seemed as if Ron had just been antagonizing Harry for the fun of it. When Harry had inquired about the "Package" to Hermione, she had flashed him a quick grin and changed the subject quickly. Why were they leaving him out?

"You can come in Hermione."

Hermione slowly opened the door and edged in, her face was still the same shade of pink as when she had left. Harry smiled inwardly, he knew that he wouldn't want to be in her position right now.

"Harry, I'm sorry, I didn't k-"

"It's ok Hermione, after all, you know you liked it" Harry joked, laughing it off. "What's here?"

Hermione's demeanor suddenly shifted to a polar opposite, she ran in the rest of the way and jumped on his bed, she carried a couple of letters in her hand.

"Our O.W.L. results!" she exclaimed, rising to a sitting position. She handed Harry his letter and began to rip her own open furiously. Harry on the other hand just watched amused, he didn't really want to

open his, he was dreading the results. Heck, it was during his History of Magic O.W.L that Harry had his vision about Sirius being captured, how in Merlin's name was he supposed to concentrate on his stupid little O.W.L. examination. The only one he felt he had done well in was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Hermione was reading her letter, Harry could see the excitement bubbling up inside of her. Hermione finished reading the letter and set it down, something seemed to upset her, because she had a stern look on her face and was staring at the wall as if she was trying to recall something. Harry grabbed her letter and read it quickly, Hermione had received ten out of ten O.W.Ls with marks on every one of Outstanding except for Defense Against the Dark Arts where she had received a Exceeds Expectations.

"Wow Hermione…"

"I know I'm trying to figure out why I got an E in Defense Against the Dark Arts too…"

"No I mean… Wow… you did amazing." Hermione flashed him a quick smile

"Why thank you Harry, but it still doesn't make up for the fact that it wasn't perfect."

"Oh bulloc-"

"What did you get?"

"Uh…" Harry reluctantly opened his letter.

_Ordinary Wizarding Level Examination Results_

_Harry Potter_

_Astronomy – Acceptable_

_Care of Magical Creatures – Exceeds Expectations_

_Charms – Exceeds Expectations_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts – Outstanding_

_Divination – Poor_

_Herbology – Exceeds Expectations_

_History of Magic – Dreadful_

_Potions – Exceeds Expectations_

_Transfiguration – Exceeds Expectations_

_Dan Gerunld_

_O.W.L Examination Committee_

"Well I guess it's not too bad considering how I think most of Astronomy was distracted by incident between Hagrid, Mogonagall, and Umbridge, and well there's no surprises for Divination there, and during History of Magic…" Harry cut himself off, Hermione knew where he was leading, it was during that particular O.W.L. that Harry had his vision of Voldemort torturing his godfather Sirius.

"Hey Harry, do you want to go for a walk?" Hermione asked, diverting his current direction of thought.

"Sure"

Harry didn't mind going on a walk, they didn't have much to do around the house as it was. Yet even with hardly anything to do Harry couldn't be happier here, at least he had someone to share his boredom with. They began to follow a path that led them towards the forest and towards the lake, it was a fairly nice day outside, it wasn't too hot and there was a nice gentle breeze cooling the air. All in all their trip to the lake was pretty uneventful, although Harry did note that the walk to the lake seemed to be much longer than what it seemed form the tower in Hermione's house.

"I can't believe you got nine 'Outstandings', Hermione, that's amazing."

"Well, truth be told Harry, if you had just paid more attention in class…" Harry let Hermione trail off, they had just reached the lake and he'd much rather enjoy the view instead of listen to Hermione tell him

off about not paying attention in class. Half of it was boring anyway.

Harry and Hermione sat on the sand that surrounded the outer edge of the lake, Harry was at peace taking in the landscape around him, the mountains in the background, the reflection of the blue sky shimmering across the lake…

"Harry… HARRY!"

"Huh?"

"Honestly have you not heard a word I said? Argh, boys, I swear, Say one thing about Quidditch and they're more attentive than Neville at herbology, but mention one word about building for the future and the drop to the intellect of a gargoyle." Hermione flung her arms up in exasperation and fell back onto the sand with a dull thud.

"Did you just say Quidditch?!" Harry smirked.

"ARGH!" Harry laughed and laid down beside her, folding his arms behind his head, watching the clouds in the sky. They remained silent for a few minutes just thinking to themselves.

"Two days Harry."

"Sorry?"

"Two days"

"Two days until what?"

"Your birthday of course!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

"So what do you want?"

"Hermione, after everything you've done for me, do you honestly expect me to ask you to get me something for my birthday?"

"No but that's beside the point, because I'm going to whether you want me to or not."

"Oh you are, are you?"

"Yup"

"Not if I have anything to say about it"

"Well then I guess you don't have anything to say."

Harry's retort was interrupted because Hermione got up and began walk back towards her house. Harry jumped up, brushing the sand off of him and hurried to catch up to her. They walked back for the most part in silence, but Hermione had this little smirk plastered on her face the whole way back and when Harry inquired about it, her smirk just grew even bigger. They arrived back at the house just as Hermione's mum had finished preparing dinner, and they Harry had a nice dinner with the Granger family and they all sat down in the living room afterwards to watch the tele. As the news came on, Harry dragged Hermione upstairs to his room.

"What is it Harry?"

"I want to tell you something, just before I came here, to your house, I received a letter from the Ministry of Magic, they have summoned me to a hearing for my offenses against the ministry a couple weeks ago. They've accused me of breaking and entering into the Ministry of Magic, destruction of valuables in the Department of Mysteries, endangering the lives of other underage wizards and witches, disturbance of other classified artifacts in the Department of Mysteries, and the use of the Cruciatus curse on another wizard…" Harry finished tentatively

"Well that's absur- wait…what do you mean use of the Cruciatus curse… you didn't? On Bellatrix? Oh Harry!"

"I was a little out of control at that point, sh-she had just ki- killed Sir-…" Harry started out defensively, but ended out rather weak, the thought of Sirius still hurt him.

"Well, she did deserve a taste of her own medicine for once, after what she did to Neville."

Harry looked at Hermione, taken back a little.

"Well this whole incident is rather uncalled for if you ask me, first they deny that Voldemort was even back and tried to make a fool out of you and Dumbledore, and now that they finally are forced to accept that they were wrong, it seems like they're lashing out at you. Well, don't worry Harry, I'll come and vouch for you, and I'm sure the rest of us who followed you would do the same." Hermione finished confidently

"I just wish I could have you guys with me, might make them see some reason…"

"What do you mean?"

"You can't come, they've requested a private hearing, the only other person allowed in there with me will be Dumbledore."

"Why those conniving little dirty rats, there's got to be some way around this, they're cheating to blame you so they don't take all of the blame, this is ridiculous!"

"Well either way, I'll have Dumbledore with me, hopefully I'll be able to pull through on this one, mind you, they won't take the fact that this is my second appearance in front of the Wizegammot lightly."

"I wonder if they're anything I can find to help get you off, does Ro-"

"Yeah, Ron knows." Hermione looked a little put out at this statement, Harry realizing the trust confrontation he just created added quickly, "But he only knows because his dad happened to overhear a conversation at the Ministry, I didn't tell him myself." Hermione brightened back up.

"Well, we'll be at the burrow soon, and maybe Mr. Weasley will have a little more information that will help."

"Oh that reminds me Hermione, what's this package that Ron said arrived? Huh?"

"Oh that's nothing Harry, nothing important" Hermione smiled innocently

"Oh really? Then why can't you tell me? If it's nothing important?"

"Because…"

"Well that's just not good enough of an answer," Harry replied, standing up, "It's looks like I'm just going to have to force it out of you!" Hermione's eyes widened noticeably.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER, DON'T YOU DARE!"

"Oh, I dare"

Before Harry could move, Hermione took of out of his room and down the hall. Harry smiled, giving her a split seconds head start before the chase ensued. He tore out of his room, looking up and down the hallway, Hermione gave a light yelp when he burst out of his room, giving away her position at the end of the hall near the stairs. Harry saw here disappear into the stairwell that led to the tower and took off in pursuit, she was cornered now. Harry bounded up the steps and quickly reached the square door at the base of the tower. It was shut tight, as if some bushy haired girl was sitting on top of it. Harry smiled inwardly, and as if just by instinct, a single thought crossed his mind. 'Move'. The trap door began to vibrate uncontrollably and, suddenly, Hermione was flung off onto the a lot of pillows on the cushioned bench that encircled the room. Harry walked into the room looking at her with a content look on his face, and without a warning and movements as quick as lighting, Harry was pinning Hermione down, tickling her relentlessly. After about a half minute of torture, Harry decided to let her breathe a little and backed off. Hermione sat up breathing heavily, a smile still plastered on her face, no doubt the residual effects of Harry's tickle torture.

"How did you do that back there" She asked, slowly regaining her composure.

"Do what?"

"How did you throw me off the door? You didn't use magic did you?"

"No, I just kind of said move in my head… and well the door did. I don't even know why I did it, something just told me to." It was rather puzzling now that Harry took a moment to consider what he just did. "I hope I didn't do magic, I don't need the Ministry breathing down my neck any more than they already are."

"Well Harry James Potter, it seems that we are both full of surprises tonight, but I'm willing to not press yours if you don't press mine. Now it's late and I must really be off to bed." Hermione stood and began to head down the stairwell.

"HEY! That's no fair!" But she was gone. Harry could have sworn he had seen something in her eyes as she walked out, some kind of look, but he couldn't quite tell what it was…


	5. Amongst a Sea of Red

**Harry Potter and the Legend Lost**

**Amongst a Sea of Red**

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**

The next two days went by fairly fast, Harry wasn't given much time to even think about anything between packing for himself and helping Hermione pack. Moody and Tonks has showed up to inform them that their method of travel to the burrow would be by portkey, when Harry asked moody why they hadn't just taken a portkey to Hermione's house he simply replied, in a slight condescending manor:

"Portkey's can be tracked boy, especially with all the watch you were under in Little Whinging, but here, coming from no where significant, no one would give it more than a passing thought. Remember Potter, CONSTANT VIGILENCE!"

So Harry spent what little time he had packing for himself, not that he needed much time because he barley had anything to begin with. He spent most of his time helping Hermione pack her belongings, it was amazing how much… stuff… one person could own. When the time finally came for them to finally depart, Harry was downstairs all his luggage beside him, Tonks had arrived to transport their luggage to the burrow. Hermione, on the other hand, seemed to be taking her sweet time, fretting about little things and trying to rack her memory to see if she had forgotten anything. Harry ended up carrying her luggage down for her, forcing her to follow him downstairs to the awaiting party.

Hermione's mum and dad gave her their goodbyes, Harry could see it in their eyes, they loved their daughter more than anything in this world. A kind of love that only parents can give. He wondered what his parents would think of him now if they were here, would they even accept him? Especially after he had caused the death of his godfather? Harry forced his feelings back down in order to say goodbye and thanks to the Grangers.

"Alright, get a move on you two, the portkey is about to activate, I'll be right behind you with your luggage." Tonks stated.

Harry nodded and cast a glance at Hermione, they both grabbed either end of the rusty spoon. They didn't have to wait long until Harry felt that all too familiar pull behind his navel, he saw Hermione and his surroundings turn into a blur as he was pulled by the portkey. The feeling seemed to last forever when he felt something unfamiliar tug at him and he was flung in a different direction. He couldn't make out which was up or down, left or right, he spun completely out of control for what seemed like to be hours on end, yet in reality, probably only a couple of seconds. Finally, Harry began to feel himself slow down, all the while spinning like a top, he felt as if he would hurl. He landed flat on his face in a field, the breath was knocked out of him momentarily and he was coughing up blood from the rough landing. It took a minute or two for Harry to regain his senses, the world around him was spinning back and forth making it very difficult to move. As soon as he could see straight, Harry sat up taking in his surroundings, Hermione wasn't with him, and from the looks of it, he wasn't near the burrow. The field he laid upon sat on a hill and from his vantage point he could see a large city off in the distance and a large suburban area stretching out from it, ending no more than half a mile from the field.

Where was he? What happened? He stood slowly, blood rushing to his head and making him somewhat light headed. Before he could decide which direction to head, he heard a faint cry in the distance towards the edge of the field. He could make out a couple of dark cloaked figures chasing what seemed to look like a girl… the girl from his dreams. Harry's demeanor suddenly changed, amongst the cloaked figures he could see him, an evil smile etched across his unnatural face. Voldemort was here.

Harry drew his wand and headed for the nearest tree, they were heading directly for him, unknowingly. He knew he must help the girl, no matter what it took. He waited, they kept approaching, the girl running as fast as she could and the Death Eaters flinging spells at her laughing their heads off. There seemed to be some kind of barrier around the girl though, because the spells stopped short and rebounded back at the Death Eaters. Ignoring the fact that this all was a little off, Harry tried to formulate a plan. This wasn't going to be easy, there were three Death Eaters and Voldemort. The girl ran past his tree, stumbling as she made her way through the field. Harry waited. A couple of the Death Eaters ran past his tree laughing manically. Harry waited, he waited until Voldemort had walked past his tree, a smug little grin on his slimy face, he continued past Harry's tree and towards the girl. Harry stepped out from behind his tree, with all of their backs to him. The girl noticed him instantly and stopped running, yet before any of the Death Eaters could react to her actions, Harry took aim, his spell must be true if he was to stand any chance.

"STUPEFY!"

The spell emitted from Harry's wand and whizzed at Voldemort, just before the moment of impact, a simmering white glow emitted around Voldemort and Harry's spell merely bounced off. Voldemort stopped walking and slowly turned to face his opponent. The Death Eaters caught up to the girl, she had merely looked on in shock, not even giving a response when a Death Eater bound her. Now that their chase was over they all rounded on the new arrival. Harry was frozen in place. Almost too quick to see, Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry and bonds formed around Harry's arms, forcing him to drop his wand.

"Well, well… what do we have here? It seems today is perhaps my lucky day after all, I have the girl and now the infamous Harry Potter has fallen so effortlessly into my hands."

Harry struggled against his bonds in fruitless attempts to break free and somehow make a run for it.

"Tut, tut, we can't have you getting free now can we Harry?"

Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry and muttered something inaudible. Harry felt as if something was clenched around his ankle, and he was lifted into the air and flung upside down, hanging there limply. He had seen this curse before, it was the same one that his father had used on Professor Snape in his memory.

"Ahh, my dear Harry, how nice of you to join us on this fine day. How has your summer been, good? I hope I didn't frighten you in the park, I was just peeking in to see what my old friend Harry was up to."Voldemort mused, he had a clearly smug look on his face. Harry didn't respond, he was surprised at the fact that it was indeed Voldemort he saw in Little Whinging, but he wasn't going to give Voldemort the satisfaction of knowing he could get to him.

"Harry, I heard that the Ministry is going to put you on trial for your crimes at the Ministry," The Death Eaters roared with laughter at this point, "You must tell me Harry, how is your precious godfather?"

The anger and been boiling inside of him, Harry could feel something rising up in him.

"SHUT UP!" Harry roared.

As Harry yelled at Voldemort he felt something more than words leave him, something else was there, something unfamiliar. Something happened, Voldemort began to gag, his hold on Harry loosened and Harry fell to the ground. Pulling himself up Harry saw that all of the Death Eaters seemed to be gagging as well and clutching their throats. From her bonds behind the Death Eaters, the girls eyes widened. Harry realizing that now was his moment, seizing his opportunity, Harry snatched his wand and ran to the girl, he raised his wand.

"Finite Incantum" The bonds holding the girl dissolved at Harry's spell. He extended his hand to her, helping her get up.

"I'm not sure what just happened, but it probably wont last, but we have to get out of here as quickly as we can" Harry cast a glance over towards Voldemort and the Death Eaters, they were still gagging, although Voldemort was watching him intently, his eyes looked murderous. Voldemort tried to stand but it seemed that whatever was affecting him, along with his Death Eater's was too overwhelming. Harry diverted his attention back to the girl.

"I'm not quite sure how we're going to get out of here though."

"Take my hand Harry."

Harry did, perplexed by the odd request. But before he had too much time to dwell on if something happened, the air around them began to shimmer before turning completely white. Harry's mind was lost, what was going on? This girl didn't even use a wand, what kind of magic was this? He didn't even know her, why had he trusted her? Thoughts raced though his mind, but slowly the white began to shimmer back into a visible image again. The image became clearer, they were no longer in the field but somewhere different, he didn't know where. He felt nauseous. He sat down on the grass in the new field that they had appeared in. His thoughts quickly replayed everything that just occurred. It happened so fast. He opened his eyes, they were in a completely different place than before. The scenery here was much different, there were in a large pasture. Directly in from of him there was a barbed wire fence and just on the other side laid a muggle road. To his left further into the pasture were a couple of cows lazily snacking on the tall grass there. To his right the girl sat beside him, she seemed to be just as deep in thought.

"Who are you?" He looked intently at the girl.

The girl turned to look at him, she studied him intently for several moments, her eyes rested upon his scar. She seemed to be reading him, trying to decipher his intentions.

"My name is Reagan, Reagan Nekesh." She sounded a little hesitant.

"I'm H-"

"Harry Potter, I know…" Putting the fact that she already knew him aside, Harry asked another question.

"Where are we?"

"Just outside of a little village in the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland." This was all very confusing, Harry had so many questions, but he had to be careful and ask the important ones first. He didn't know her or what shewas capable of, he needed information before he made any type of move.

"Do you know how I ended up in that field at the particular moment you were being chased?"

"Well to simply put it, I called out for help, and you were the only mind in range that could respond, so you did…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I'm not too sure myself, from what I know there are none left living in the bloodline, no one should of came to my call, but you did… I can sense something… something about you."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure…" Harry was utterly perplexed, everything she said sounded like gibberish, he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"Why was Voldemort after you?"

"Because of what I am…" She seemed a little strained at this change of topic, like it was a sensitive issue to her. But Harry needed to know.

"And what are you?" Harry inquired. Reagan sighed heavily.

"I am what remains of a ancient race of people, the Degaruians-" She stopped mid sentence and closed her eyes, her forehead furrowed. "They're coming…I left a sign, argh, how could I have been so careless. Harry you must get back to safety, you're not ready yet, and I can't hold him off of you. I'm going to take you back to where you should be, but we must be fast, they'll be here any second."

Death Eater's began to appear out of nowhere, before they could even react, a stupefy curse flew and hit Harry straight in the chest. He flew backwards several feet, he laid there for what seemed like hours fighting unconsciousness, just as he was about to give up he felt a hand close around his arm, the last thing he saw before he blacked out was the shimmering scene of Death Eaters flinging curses in their general direction, then everything turned white.

Harry woke up in a strange room, he recognized this place, he had been here many times before. He sat up slowly, his chest ached a bit and the blood seemed to rush to his head making him light headed again. He looked around from his plush couch in Dumbledore's office. Harry slowly buried his face in his hands, trying to regain all of his senses and remember exactly what happened. After a few antagonizing moments, Harry opened his eyes again. Dumbledore was sitting in his chair watching Harry intently, his long nose rested up his intertwined fingers as his elbows were propped up on his desk, he had a very concerned look about him.

"Hello Harry"

"Hey" Harry replied wearily.

"I must say, you gave us all quite a scare there when you didn't show up. And I must say when we found you in the front yard of the burrow, you weren't in the best condition. I must also point out that between Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley, it was very difficult to get you here, they care very much for you Harry." He raised an eyebrow inquisitively

"So… she didn't stay then, I wonder…" Harry muttered to himself. But of course, Dumbledore is keen of hearing.

"She who Harry? You were quite alone when we found you, what exactly happened?"

Harry relayed the events of what happened to Dumbledore, not leaving out one detail. If anyone knew what to do, it would be Dumbledore. He told of him how he felt when he was flung off-course during his travel by the portkey, he told him on his encounter with Lord Voldemort and told him how Voldemort brought up the death of his godfather. He told him of how he had simply yelled 'SHUT UP' at Voldemort and he did. He then told them of the girl, the one from his dreams, and how he escaped from the scene in the most peculiar way. He told Dumbledore of how she said there was something different about Harry, there was something she could sense about him. He told Dumbledore of how she was about to tell him about herself when she was somehow able to predict that Death Eaters were coming, then they appeared out of nowhere and he was hit directly in the chest with a stupefy curse and how he had seen them disappear in the same method they came, it was the last thing they remembered.

"The only useful thing I got out of that was that she said she was the last of an ancient race of people called the Degaruians." Harry said quite exasperated. Dumbledore's demeanor, on the other hand, completely changed, he raised his eyebrows again.

"Really, interesting…Well she is most certainly not the last one… but, one of the very few, especially on the outside. I'm sorry Harry, I can't say much now, I must do some research. For now I think that it is best that you return to the burrow, I don't think Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley will be to happy if I keep you here much longer."

Harry just nodded, he didn't like the fact that Dumbledore, once again, knew something he didn't but for this time he had legit reasons, it seemed that all that Dumbledore knew about these Degaruians was only heard in passing. He knew Dumbledore would tell him once he had his information right.

"In the meantime Harry, keep an eye out for Miss Reagan, I have a hunch that she may come to see you, after all, you did save her life. If you do see her though, I would very much like to talk to her. Now as for your journey to the burrow, I believe we shall try apparition this time. I will personally escort you."

Dumbledore rose and walked to the middle of the room. Since one couldn't apparate on Hogwarts grounds, they were forced to walk to Hogsmeade.

"Now hold on to my arm tight Harry, this may be somewhat uncomfortable at first."

Harry held on to Dumbledore's arm as an uncomfortable darkness closed in around him and squeezed him just until he thought he couldn't take it anymore and then it began to let up and the appeared with a soft pop a little ways off from the burrow just over the hill in front of them. They walked silently towards the burrow, it seemed eerily quiet. The approached the front door where Dumbledore knocked with a short five knock pattern. The door opened and Arthur Weasley appeared, he smiled at them.

"Well hello there Harry, its good to see that you're ok. Molly's been off her rocker with worry. Come in, come in, everyone's out back. Good afternoon Albus."

"Good day I presume Arthur?"

"Oh very"

They headed inside and through the kitchen. As soon as Harry opened the back door there was an uproar.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!"

Before he even had time to react he was smothered with light brown curly hair.

"Oy, let him breathe Hermione, you don't want to be the one who killed him do you?" Hermione turned around and smack Ron on the arm. Ron laughed.

"Happy Birthday mate, oh and don't for one second believe that you're going to get away with not telling us what happened to you, but we'll wait since it's your birthday and all." Ron smiled and Hermione nodded inagreement.

Harry's birthday party was more than he could have ever hoped for, the entire Order had shown up and Fred and George put on quite a nice show with their Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. The entire atmosphere was extremely relaxed and everyone seemed relieved that Harry was back alive and unharmed. The party didn't wind down until the early hours of the morning, Mrs. Weasley had decided that clean up from the event could wait until tomorrow and she ushered them all off to bed. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny headed up the stairs towards their respective rooms. Hermione and Ginny split off, each saying goodnight and giving Harry a birthday hug. Harry and Ron headed up to his room. Ron crashed immediately and it wasn't more than five minutes until he was snoring openly. Harry on the other hand couldn't sleep, it was such a perfect day, he didn't want it to end. He decided that a nice walk would help calm him down so he slowly crept down the stairs and out into the back yard. He walked towards the open field that the Weasleys used as their homemade quidditch pitch, but his walk there was interrupted.

"I didn't know today was your birthday…"

Harry wheeled around, startled, there stood Reagan watching him quite intently. She was wearing a muggle outfit, not like he had seen any wizard wear though, she wore tight jeans and a white t-shirt, Harry could have easily passed her off as a sixteen year old muggle girl. Her short hair grow longer towards her bangs which were parted down the middle and curved into her face.

"You startled me."

"I know"

There was an awkward pause. Then a smile burst across Reagan's face.

"Happy birthday Harry!" She exclaimed kissing him on the cheek. Harry stood there somewhat dumbfounded.

"You never got to finish answering my questions" He said testily

"Well I can't answer all of them, at least not right now, but some… What do you want to know?" she asked sitting down. Harry sat beside her.

"Well for starters, how do you know the Death Eaters haven't followed you here? They seemed to be able to track you last time."

"Well that one's easy, the first time, well… I was a little preoccupied, something was interrupting my thoughts, and I kind of forgot to erase my tracks. Don't worry though, I'm typically much more careful than that."

"What were you doing to deflect their spells, I never even saw your wand?"

"Well that would be because I don't have one, as to why or how I did that, I can't answer that right now"

"Why did you come here?"

"You intrigue me Harry… There's something different about you, something I swear I heard about before but I can't quite put my finger on it. If only my good aunt was alive, she knew perhaps more than anything than anyone I've ever know, she might be able to help me jog my memory, but she died." Silence

"You know what else, I don't like being alone. It's hard not having anywhere to turn, and no one to turn to, and since my house is no longer safe."

"You're not the only Degaruian left"

"What do you mean?"

"I have a very trusted friend who is very wise, and he cared for me when you left me in the Weasley's front yard. I confided in him and when I got to that part, he seemed convinced that you were not the last Degaruian."

Reagan's eyes lit up, even though she challenged him.

"There can't be, I would know, I would be able to sense them."

"He would like to talk to you, his name is Albus Dumbledore, commonly, Professor Dumbledore" Harry replied, he watched her closely. He had been gauging all of her reactions to his words, trying his best to convince her.

"How do I know I can trust him?"

"You don't, but you trusted me didn't you? If it makes any difference, he is the leader of an organization called the Order of the Phoenix, they oppose Voldemort."

Reagan reached down and pulled a letter out of her jean pocket and handed it to Harry.

_When you need help, simply call out to him._

_A.W.B.D – Order of the Phoenix_

The note was short but to the point. Dumbledore must have sent this to her when he told him about his dreams.

"You know, I find it funny, I told that Voldemort guy that I wouldn't involve myself in the affairs of wizards… and here I am now." She laughed. "Tell Professor Dumbledore that I will see him, when I'm ready."

Harry stood there, somewhat unsure what to do, she had said it again, 'the affairs of wizards'… She spoke as if she wasn't a witch.

"Are you not a wit-"

"That Harry, is a question for another time. Enough about me, what about you, I want to know everything."

So Harry told he… starting at the beginning of his story…


	6. Rendezvous with Daemons

**Harry Potter and the Legend Lost  
Rendezvous with Daemons**

Harry woke early that morning and got dressed quietly so as to not wake Ron. That had moved into Grimwald Place the day after his birthday, needless to say, things had been a little cramped around the house with all of the Weasleys there and whatnot. It had been hectic as well, as soon Harry told Hermione and Ron about what had happened to him, Hermione seemed to have buried herself in books trying to research the Degaruians and Ron, well, Ron didn't know what to make of it. Harry decided to leave out the fact that Reagan had come to see him on his birthday night, and had been to see him every night since. Mrs. Weasley seemed to be somewhat out of control, she was more motherly than ever towards Harry and Ron, she seemed to act as if every day would be the last day she would get to see them. All of the attention was somewhat annoying, not to mention the fact that Ginny never seemed to leave Harry alone anymore, she would always follow him around finding excuses to do stuff with him. It seemed to irritate Ron most of all and when he finally blew up at her she blushed furiously and backed off for a little bit. Harry felt sorry for her mainly, she was wasting her time, not that she would ever be able to understand or accept it, but Harry couldn't be close to anyone anymore. She was already in enough danger as it was just being friends with him, he wouldn't put her in any more danger than he had to. Of course, Harry kept these feelings somewhat reserved and just plainly ignored Ginny's attempts, he could just imagine the reactions of Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys if they ever knew the prophecy. He still had not told Ron, he planned to, very soon. Hermione still stood by him though, even though she knew, a simple fact that meant more to him than anything else he had. He just hoped Ron would feel the same way.

It was a dark and dull morning, rain clouds hung overhead, threatening to let loose and drench the earth with water. Harry walked briskly down the muggle street with Arthur Weasley at his side keeping pace. It was Tuesday, August 8th and the stage couldn't be more prepared for Harry's court date. Hermione had seen Harry off from Grimwald place wishing him good luck as he left, Ron had wished him luck the night before, there was no way he would get up that early if he didn't have to.

Harry and Mr. Weasley approached the familiar red telephone booth next to the old abandoned shop. Mr. Weasley picked up the phone and clearly stated his business and who he was with, the receiver clicked and the telephone booth began to sink down into the cement, it slowly rose up and overtook the booth leaving it completely black for several moments until they began to emerge into the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry was busy with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, Harry and Mr. Weasley walked over to the receptionist to pick up Harry's name tag.

_Harry Potter  
Disciplinary Hearing_

Harry absent-mindedly thanked the receptionist.

"Don't worry dear, I'm sure you'll have no problem getting off" She smiled.

"Err-Yeah thanks…"

They headed towards the elevators along with several other witches and wizards.

"Morning Arthur"

"Morning Will, how's the wife?"

"Oh good, good, she's busy keeping the kids entertained" Will smiled

"I'm sure Molly feels her pain" They both laughed.

"7th floor: Court Rooms and Court Administration" The elevator chimed in.

"Well that's us, be seeing you around Will"

"You too, take care Arthur…" He was eyeing Harry uncertainly

They exited the elevator onto the 7th floor, there was another receptionist at a desk in front of them, they consulted with her and found directions to Harry's court room. They walked forever passing court room after court room after court room, Harry had begun to count in the beginning, '1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8… hmm wonder why mine is missing?' Harry eventually lost count around 43. They turned down a new hallway, there were no long court rooms on either side of him, instead, there was one door at the very end of the hall. It was kind of ironic that the lights got dim as they walked down the hall, before they got to the door, Mr. Weasley stopped and took a step back.

"You know the drill Harry"

He simply nodded and turned and continued towards the large door. It made him feel small. Just as Harry was about to knock the large doors swung open on their own. Harry was a little dumbfounded by the sight set before him, there were hundreds of judges all dressed in red their eyes all intent on him, there was one difference among the sea of red. The Minister of Magic wore black, Harry didn't recognize him, it was most definitely someone different. In the center of the room there was a small table and two chairs behind it, one of these chairs was tall and plump looking with burgundy cushions, the other was simply a small wooden chair. Harry walked in, it felt like he was walking to his doom, everyone watched him as if they knew these were his last moments in his pitiful life. Harry took his seat next to Professor Dumbledore who smiled at him, a twinkle in his eye. It felt like they sat there in silence for hours on end, the judges watching, trying to read the two characters before them, until someone decided to speak. It was the Minister of Magic.

"Good Afternoon all. We are here to preside of the hearing of Mr. Harry James Potter for his offences against the Ministry of Magic." His voice boomed throughout the whole room. "The charges are as follows: Breaking and Entering into the Ministry of Magic, Endangering the lives of other underage wizards and witches, Destruction of particular valuables in the Department of Mysteries, Use of the Cruciatus curse on another wizard, Disturbance of other classified artifacts in the Department of Mysteries."

The entire time he talked, Harry had barley listened, there was someone sitting to his immediate left, he couldn't take his eyes off of her, the toad. The Ministry had reinstated Umbridge as Senior Undersecretaryto the Minister of Magic as soon as she had left St. Mungos. She had them believe that she had nothing to do with Fudge's prejudice. She just sat there, smiling sweetly at him, but Harry could see an evil glare inher eyes.

"Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, presiding over the hearing." Scrimgeour continued, addressing himself in the third person, "You will be given a chance to provide evidence against each of these accusations, Mr. Potter."

The hall fell silent for several moments, everyone was anticipating the Minister's next action.

"Starting with Breaking and Entering into the Ministry of Magic."

Harry stood, he was ready for this question. Dumbledore watched him, a small smile etched across his face, he had Dumbledore's trust.

"I'm sorry sir, I never did nor did I ever have any intention of breaking and entering into the ministry of magic." Before Harry even finished his thought, the Minister cut in rather rudely.

"Then how do you explain your presence in the ministry that night Mr. Potter?"

"I never broke in, I clearly stated my intentions at the door of the ministry of magic, and I received a name tag that displayed my name as well as my intention here at the Ministry, I never tried to break in."

"Argh, well a simple flaw in the system, it will be fixed." Scrimgeour muttered in retort.

Harry watched the faces of the judges in the stands, some of them looked relieved.

"Endangering the lives of other underage wizards and witches, Mr. Neville Longbottom, Mr. Ronald Weasley, Miss Hermione Granger, Miss Luna Lovegood, and Miss Ginny Weasley. Evidence Mr. Potter?"

"Yes it is true that they came with my to the Ministry of Magic, but it was not my choice that lead them there, it was their own. I tried to tell them not to come with me and to let me handle this on my own as it should have been, but they wouldn't allow me to do so. Every last one of them is a loyal friend."

"And I find it interesting myself Minister, that you decided to make this a private hearing today, when you know perfectly well that Harry was not the only one involved in this incident, in fact it even further surprises me that it is only Harry on trial here. Or did you just suspect their answers to the question of whether or not Harry forced them to go with him?" It was the first time Dumbledore had spoken, his eyes were unforgiving ashe stared at Scrimgeour and his voice was unwavering. Scrimgeour on the other hand seemed somewhat taken aback at the low blow, but he regained his composure and attacked with a new venom in his voice.

"Destruction of particular valuables in the Department of Mysteries. How do you explain that one?" His eyes were shooting daggers. Dumbledore had taken over the court room though, answering for Harry.

"And just what weighs more in the eyes of the Minister, a couple recordings of prophecies or the lives of six brilliant young witches and wizards? Harry and his friends were fighting off Death Eaters, the very Death Eaters that lured them there, the very Death Eaters that gotten past the Ministry of Magic security so easily, and if they had not, none of this would have ever happened. It seems to me as if the younger generation today is doing more to fight off Lord Voldemort than the Ministry of Magic itself."

"Now you know yourself that's not fair Dumbledore, the ministry had not acknowledged the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named yet and you know it-"

"And look what that simple but blatant mistake almost cost, the lives of several fine young witches and wizards."

Scrimgeour hissed, his face was as red as a beet, he wouldn't stand for this lack of respect. Just as he was about to respond though, he felt a hand on his shoulder, it was Dolores Umbridge, he nodded to hercurtly.

"Hem, Hem, and just how do you explain the use of the Cruciatus cures on another wizard, Harry dear, when we have an eyewitness who saw you perform it?" Umbridge asked pointedly.

"And how do you?" Replied calmly. She began to reply, some lie obviously, but Harry didn't give her the chance. 'Shut up' Harry didn't even realize he did it until she wasn't able to say anything, it worked out quitewell actually because it made her look like she was trying to find a retort but was failing. Another idea popped into Harry's head, 'Tell them what you did.' As if she couldn't stop herself, Umbridge began to talk.

"I-I, during my role as headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, I implanted hundreds of rule, some of which I wanted students to break just so I could have the pleasure of punishing them, after all one must be able to stand up temptation, hem hem. I used a blood quill from my main method of punishment, making students write lines that were appropriate for the rule that they broke. I also used Veritaserum to obtain information from naughty students, as well as the Cruciatus curse." She finished, her eye's were filled with horror, realizing what she had just done.

The entire courtroom burst out in uproar. Scrimgeour looked suddenly defeated, he pointed his wand at his Senior Undersecretary. Bonds formed around Dolores Umbridge's hands, she was slowly led away while she screamed helplessly. Once order had returned to the courtroom, Scrimgeour looked back at Harry, his eyes were sunken, He knew he had lost this case, Harry could read him like an open book.

"Mr. Potter, Disturbance of classified artifacts in the Department of Mysteries." Harry could tell Scrimgeour had nearly given up. Dumbledore answered this one.

"I'm not quite sure I understand what you're referring to Minister."

"The Veil of the Unknown, Dumbledore" Several witches and wizards gasped at this, others simply looked confused.

"Oh, that, I didn't think the Ministry would be dense enough to accuse Harry of that, after all, Harry had nothing to do with what happened with the veil of the unknown. The Order arrived at the Ministry to help defend the brave young people who stood against the death eaters, and during the ensuing fight, one of our own was thrown into the Veil by a Death Eater named Bellatrix Lestrange." A new fire seemed to light up inScrimgeour's eyes.

"And just who was knocked into it Dumbledore"

"That is a matter of the Order of the Phoenix and not the concern of this particular gathering." Dumbledore said plainly, Scrimgeour was defeated. "Further more, Do you even understand what you're doing Rufus? You know the prophecy just as well as I do, why are you trying to destroy our one hope?" Speaking to the entire court now, "This is merely a sixteen year old boy, and yet there has been talk of imprisonment for life, for what? Simply taking action to do the right thing, where others have not. Remember who we are, we have dark times ahead of us, we must pull together if we are to survive." Scrimgeour smirked at this comment.

Without warning a letter folded in the shape of a paper airplane squeezed it's way under the gap at the bottom of the entrance way door, and shot toward Scrimgeour. He took the letter and opened it carefully, scanning it's contents. His eyes lit up with renewed strength.

"Well, well, it seems here that Mr. Potter has been performing illegal underage magic, outside of school, yet again. In fact he preformed the stupefy curse as well as finite incantum, two spells that require a bit of wand work. How do you explain that, Mr. Potter?"

"Harry's use of magic was just, Rufus. He was recently attacked by Lord Voldemort yet aga-"

"How can you expect me to believe that Dumbledore, the way you describe it, the boy is always in danger, where is the proof?" Scrimgeour snapped.

"He is Rufus, but if you need proof, pull up your portkey records from July 28th." Almost immediately a little wizard at Scrimgeour's side, disappeared and returned with a stack of papers in his hands, he handed them to Scrimgeour who began to read the first one. I believe that you will find one portkey that left at approximately 6:03 P.M. a portkey was activated with two occupants, it reached its destination with only one occupant. That was a portkey to transport Harry to a safe location, but by some unseen force, he was not taken there, instead he was taken to Voldemort. Fortunately Harry was able to escape with his life once again and only by using those two spells, a feat that most aurors could not even claim."

"Your story seems a bit farfetched to me Dumbledore, how could a mere boy escape He Who Must Not Be Named with the use of only two spells."

"With the same ease that the ministry of magic could accuse him of using those two spells before investigating their claims." Scrimgeour looked murderous.

"All in favor of the accused?" Scrimgeour said through gritted teeth. Nearly everyone raised their hands. "Opposed?" The response was weak. Harry had won.

The judges began to file out, Harry turned to walk out, following Dumbledore but was stopped by a hang on his shoulder. He turned to face Scrimgeour.

"Everyone is equal in my eyes Potter, One day you will slip up, and when you do, I will be there waiting." Scrimgeour spat.

Harry didn't even deem a him worthy of a response. He just turned on his heels and followed Dumbledore out the door.

"He's not going to leave me alone."

"I know Harry, he doesn't have his priorities quite straight, it's been difficult for everyone to accept the return of Tom." They had made their way down the corridor and were at the elevator now. "Harry we have one last matter to attend to before I return you to Grimwald Place."

"What is it?"

"Sirius' will" Harry's face darkened, he simply nodded and followed Dumbledore into the elevator, it was eerily empty.

They arrived back at Hogwarts in Dumbledore's office, the entire trip left Harry deep in thought, he hardly noticed that they had returned to Dumbledore's office until he sat down in the chair across from his desk. His mind was racing, here he was about to hear the will of his godfather, who, if it hadn't been for him, would still be alive today. He had ultimately caused his death. Did he even deserve to hear his will? Harry felt sick, disgusted with himself. Dumbledore's office felt very distant to him, surreal even.

"Sirius left his will as a personal recording. Harry, I understand if you're not ready…"

Harry shook his head, he needed to hear this. Sirius was a part of his life, and the least he could do to honor him would be to hear his last words.

"Very well" Dumbledore pulled out a folded piece of parchment and set it on his desk before Harry. He reached over and pressed his wand to the parchment and muttered a short incantation. A small figure appeared onthe parchment, it was Sirius.

"Harry…" Sirius' voice seemed distant. "No matter what may have happened, I want you to understand that I loved you as I would my own son, essentially you were my son. I have gladly sacrificed myself for your ultimate cause and I would never change a thing. There are dark times ahead of you Harry, but if I know anything about you from my short time with you, you will pull through no matter what happens. You are much stronger than you make yourself out to be Harry. Keep your mind sharp and your wits about you Harry, you will become great. To Harry, I leave all of my possessions, including the entire contents of my vault in Gringotts. The only thing I don't leave Harry is #12 Grimwald Place, I bestow my former house to Dumbledore and the Order so that they may continue to use it as deemed necessary." Sirius paused and turned back to Harry. "You will need this Harry" He waved his hand and a key appeared in Harry's lap. Harry took it, it was an elegant looking key, with the black family crest etched into the handle. "It will get you into my vault. That covers the remainder of my possessions here, I suggest you visit my vault Harry, there's something there you may find of use. Harry, I only wish that we had more time together, but fate has decided otherwise. You have a great life ahead of you Harry, just remember, I will always be with you." Sirius' image faded.

Harry stared at the key in his hand, his mind was blank. He couldn't seem to think about anything. He and Dumbledore just sat there in silence, Dumbledore surveyed him silently.

"I want to go to Gringotts" Dumbledore simply nodded. They walked back off of Hogwarts ground in silence.

"I'd like to visit my vault" Harry said to the goblin that greeted him. The goblin waved another goblin over.

"Turnblac here will take you."

"Follow me sirs…"

Dumbledore and Harry were led through the doors into the intricate tunnels of the Gringotts bank. The all piled into a small cart and settled in. Turnblac smiled evilly, "Hold on" He flipped a lever and the breaks holding the cart let loose and they were sent hurling through the caves and insane speeds, Harry really couldn't make out which way they had went, left, right, up, down, confused. They hurled down the track for a while until they were very deep in the Gringotts tunnels. They began to slow, and the blur of cave walls flying past them began to slowly change into a clear image. Then, without warning they abruptly stopped. Harry was flung forward, landing with a soft thud on the earth ground in front of the cart. Somehow, Dumbledore had not been thrown from the forcible stop, he just smiled and stood nonchalantly, stepping out of the cart. Turnblac followed him, a look of defeat on his face, he wasn't able to have his fun with both of them. Harry picked himself up and followed Turnblac and Dumbledore to the vault door in front of them. He handed Turnblac the key who stuck it in and turned it towards the right, the goblin then took his long, pointy finger and scratched down one side of the door to the vault. The sound that emanated from the interaction sent chills down Harry's spine. The door began to slowly swing open to reveal the contents of the vault. It was filled with mounds and mounds of gold, and seemed to be as big as Grimwald Place itself. There was a small path into the vault which led to the very center. Harry proceeded into the vault, Dumbledore and Turnblac did not follow. In the middle of the vault there was a small table, and on it was a book. The book itself seemed very old, it wasn't very tattered, but Harry could tell it was old. The title was etched across the top of the book in light gold writing that was somewhat faded: The Ways of the Anmagi. A note was placed on top of the book. Harry picked it up and read it.

_Harry,_

_I thought this might be of some interest to you, good luck._

_Sirius._

Harry took the book off the table and headed back out of Sirius' vault… his vault. The ride back to the lobby of Gringotts was just as every other ride Harry had taken at Gringotts, nauseating. Once back in Diagon Alley, Dumbledore took hold of Harry and the apparated back just outside of #12 Grimwald Place.

"Harry, before I set you free, I have one last matter that I must discuss with you, and I do believe that the drawing room will do just well for our discussion." Harry simply nodded.

They headed inside, no one greeted them when they walked in, it was somewhat quiet. Although Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley humming to herself in the kitchen. As they walked by he saw Hermione sitting at the table with a mug in her hand. She noticed him and her face lit up, Harry smiled and gave her a short wave before following Dumbledore up the stairs. As he climbed the stairs he saw Hermione appear at the kitchen doorway out of the corner of his eye. She nodded to him understandingly when she saw him following Dumbledore… They would talk later. They arrived in the drawing room, Harry sat the book down on the desk and sat across from Dumbledore, who glanced at the book Harry took from the vault.

"Now Harry, I must warn you, all Anmagi are supposed to be registered with the Ministry of Magic, I trust you won't let your father's previous actions influence your own." Dumbledore gave Harry a small wink, hisoverall tone had been sarcastic. Harry grinned, he, Ron, and Hermione were going to have fun with this book.

"I am sorry I have to add to your reading list, but I have found out some information about the Degaruians and as I promised, I am passing it on to you." Dumbledore conjured a book out of thin air: _TheDeclining Fall of the Degaruians_ "Now mind you Harry, that book was extremely difficult to come by, the Degaruians are a very secretive race and there are only one or two books in known existence that relate to them. And I have a request that I would like you to pass on for me. Would you kindly relay to Reagan, that I would like to talk with her again, I believe that for the time being, she is safest at Hogwarts and I intend to offer her the opportunity to stay. I of course will have special classes for her."

Harry nodded. He had a lot of reading to do, it seems a good of time as any to get some help from Hermione. Professor Dumbledore stood and started towards the door.

"Hey Professor… thanks… for everything."

"It is nothing Harry, I'm just sorry I can't do more. Have a good summer Harry."


End file.
